The Pennsylvania grand jury that indicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell for murder and infanticide for his botched abortions carried out in horrifyingly unsanitary conditions also has revealed a second scandal: Pro-abortion politics prevented normal inspection of his facility for 17 years. Marian Wang of Pro Publica reveals the story, quoting the grand jury report:

The Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor Casey to Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be "putting a barrier up to women" seeking abortions.

According to the report, the policy change occurred after 1993 when attorneys under the administration of then-governor Tom Ridge "interpreted the same regulations that had permitted annual inspections for years to no longer authorize those inspections." Thereafter, only inspections triggered by complaints were authorized.

This is shocking malefeasance on the part of state health authorities. Abortion itself is a horror, but ignoring basic public health measures in order to facilitate the horror is even worse. It suggests legal culpability to my mind, but then I am no lawyer.

The Pennsylvania grand jury that indicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell for murder and infanticide for his botched abortions carried out in horrifyingly unsanitary conditions also has revealed a second scandal: Pro-abortion politics prevented normal inspection of his facility for 17 years. Marian Wang of Pro Publica reveals the story, quoting the grand jury report:

The Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor Casey to Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be "putting a barrier up to women" seeking abortions.

According to the report, the policy change occurred after 1993 when attorneys under the administration of then-governor Tom Ridge "interpreted the same regulations that had permitted annual inspections for years to no longer authorize those inspections." Thereafter, only inspections triggered by complaints were authorized.

This is shocking malefeasance on the part of state health authorities. Abortion itself is a horror, but ignoring basic public health measures in order to facilitate the horror is even worse. It suggests legal culpability to my mind, but then I am no lawyer.